I laughed. I thought that might be the case. I didn’t doubt my mate had researched his vacation destination thoroughly. He might have even planned to come to the market himself. But I had a few other tricks up my sleeve. “Humor me.”
We trudged through the snow toward the lodge. Since lunch, they had cleared out enough snow and the wind had died down, so we didn’t need our bear forms. We waited outside for the shuttle to arrive. Once it did, we took our seats at the front. All the while I kept my mate close to my side. We weren’t the only lodge-goers who were on their way to the market. It seemed that everyone was ready to get out of the cabins after being snowed in for the last few days.
The market was located in the town square. There was a large tree in the center, all decorated with lights and ornaments, with a massive star at the top. It was late enough in the day that the sun had begun to set, so the streetlights and holiday lights were coming on. The place was lit up with all the blues and reds of twinkling lights. Surrounding the tree were booths and little tents with crafts and different activities for people to enjoy. There was even a small skating rink.
“Oh wow.” Kip’s voice was full of wonder. His eyes sparkled under the bright lights. A festive glow shone on his face, and I nearly lost my breath just looking at him. After two long years of waiting, he was finally mine. This was a new beginning for us.
“It is gorgeous,” I said, though my gaze was focused solely on my mate.
He nudged me with his shoulder. “What should we do first?”
“Whatever you want. We have an hour before we have to be at the cookie-decorating station.”
“We’re going to be decorating cookies?”
“Yes, and we have to be there at a specific time. I made a special appointment.”
“Oh.” Kip’s cheeks flushed pink, and I couldn’t tell if it was from the cold or something else. “You didn’t have to go through all this trouble.”
“It’s not trouble when it’s for you.” I kissed his cheek, nuzzling my face against his skin. I squeezed his hand. “I’ve been waiting a long time to spoil you. This is tame compared to what I want to do. Come on, let’s look around.”
We wandered through the market, stopping at various booths. Kip admired the hand-carved wooden ornaments at one stall, he ran his fingers over the soft knitted scarves at another. I bought him hot chocolate from a vendor, with extra marshmallows, just the way he liked it. He protested, but I could see the smile tugging at his lips.
“You’re spoiling me,” he said, taking a sip.
“This? This is not spoiling you. This is the bare minimum. If I was going to spoil you, I would buy every item you looked at and then some. I still might go back for that scarf.” Actually, I was already thinking I would text my mom to see if she could make something like it for him. She was a talented knitter, and I knewthe gift would be extra special if it was made by her. “We should get an ornament to commemorate our vacation and finding each other.”
“I like that idea.” We continued our loop around the square, the cheerful sounds of Christmas carols and laughter filling the air. When we passed a booth selling handmade toys, Kip stopped, his expression softening.
“What is it?” I asked.
He picked up a small carved duck that had wheels and a string to tug it with. He turned it over in his hands. “I was just thinking... about the future. About our cubs and what they might be like.”
My heart swelled. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” He set the duck down carefully. “I want to give them everything. All of this magic, every Christmas. My parents always made the holidays a lot of fun, and I want to do the same.”
I pulled him close, pressing a kiss to his temple. “We will. I promise.” I pulled my wallet out and handed the money to the seller.
“Just the one?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Brax. You didn’t have to buy it.” Even as he said the words, he ran his fingertips over the toy. His eyes were locked on it, and there was no way I was going to leave without it.
“Oh, but I did. Our cubs will love it. Why not purchase their first gift on the vacation where we made our mating official?”
The vendor handed me that bag. “Congratulations, you two.”
“Thanks,” we both said.
The timer on my phone buzzed, reminding me that we had an appointment to keep. “Ready for cookie decorating?”
Kip grinned. “Lead the way, alpha.”
Chapter 11
Kip
